


Ducklings and Kids

by Alphum



Series: One Word Week 2020 (FSG) [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Big Sis Steph, Gen, Gen Fluff, let Damian be a kid 2k20, little bro damian, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26350786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alphum/pseuds/Alphum
Summary: Steph wants ice cream. Damian just wants to feed the ducks.Books / Ducks for One Word Week
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne
Series: One Word Week 2020 (FSG) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904440
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61
Collections: One Word Week (FSG Theme Week)





	Ducklings and Kids

It was absurdly nice out for Gotham, Steph thought to herself. Winds from the harbor had been constant the last few days, blowing the smog out of Gotham. It was a rare occurrence, usually only happening in the winter when storms were rolling in, but there were no clouds overhead to make the city overcast. Instead, it was a clear blue sky that hinted at the coming of summer. It was late spring and it was unseasonably warm.

Steph had busted out one of her rare sundresses for this, happy to drink the sun in along her arms and shoulders. She was sure her summer freckles would start coming in early. The only thing that marred the mood of the day was the sourpuss at her side.

“C’mon, it’s ice cream!” Steph cajoled him.

“It’s April.” Damian frowned back at her sternly.

“It’s so nice out!” She protested.

“So you’ve said.” Damian sniffed and crossed his arms.

Steph rolled her eyes. “Oh my god. It’s ice cream!” She repeated.

“Yes, condensed cream with far too much sugar, I’m familiar.” Damian huffed. “Besides that, it’s far too cold! You are shivering!”

Steph ignored him. She was determined to enjoy the sun,  _ determined _ . “Jeez, did you swallow a dictionary or something?” She teased. “Well, how about… Doughnuts!” She brightened, spotting a food cart further down along the path.

“Ugh. Disgusting.” Damian’s face puckered into a scowl.

“You’re such a little sourpuss!” Steph pinched his cheek and hastily snatched her hand back before his vicious jab at a nerve cluster could make her arm numb. “What kid doesn’t like sweets and candies?” She demanded, grabbing his arm and tugging him along.

He sighed, a long-suffering noise that Steph giggled at. 

“C’mon, you gotta learn to have a little fun!” She hooked their arms together and towed him along like he was a little dinghy to her tugboat. She knew he was more than willing to go along with her; if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t let himself be dragged so easily along. Damian was a prickly little thing but he did actually want to socialize and do fun things. Due to his upbringing, he felt like he had to turn his nose up at anything childish, but Steph knew that he was usually quietly intrigued by the goings-on of “regular people” be they children or no. So that’s why it was her job to show him the joys of being a kid.

Dick did an okay job of it, but he was too focused on the nightlife side of things. Damian didn’t need more instructing on that front. He needed to learn how to live, how to make their extracurricular activities worth it.

Damian’s steps alongside her flagged slightly.

She glanced over her shoulder and tracked his gaze. He was looking at the ducks. She grinned. “I changed my mind!” She announced, turning on her heel. She grinned at Damian’s startled  _ gack! _ as she dragged him along with her. “I want to feed the ducks!” She marched across the grass towards the feed stand.

Damian didn’t protest. When she peeked over at him, his eyes were bright and the corners of his mouth were upturned ever so slightly.

Score one for the Stephanator.

Steph dug a few bills out of her fanny pack as they walked.

“Bread is bad for ducks.” Damian told her seriously.

“Yep! This lady over here is real nice, she sells this, like, granola oat stuff? It’s got dried fruits and stuff in it too, it’s all super healthy for them.” She assured him. 

He looked mollified. “Good. Bread is extremely unhealthy for ducks. It is low in nutrition and it can swell in their intestines.”

“Ew.” Steph made a face. “Don’t say intestines, that’s gross. Hi, two bags please!” Steph smiled cheerily at the bird lady. She was pretty sure her name was Maude. She was here every day, rain or shine. She exchanged her bills for two worn paper sacks that were both half-full of Maude’s homemade healthy duck food mix. Steph handed Damian his and then pointed to an empty stretch of lake shore. “Let’s go over there!”

Damian led the way excitedly.

Steph grinned to herself. He almost looked his age now instead of like a mini-Bruce.

“Hurry up Brown!” He hollered over his shoulder.

Steph laughed and broke into a jog. “I’m coming!”

The ducks, noticing they had bags of food, swarmed them. Damian laughed as they buffeted him with their wings in their excitement to nip at his cupped hands. Steph scattered a few handfuls on the ground around them to divert some of the attention and soon they were in the middle of a ring of ducks.

“They’re so cute!” Steph grinned.

Damian nodded in agreement, smile small but genuine. “They are.”

“Oh look!” Steph slapped at his shoulder and pointed. “Look, look! Babies!” She squealed. “They want a snack too!”

A handful of baby ducks were toddling along behind their mother, clumsy in their adolescence and flapping their wings to try and hurry to the feeding frenzy. 

Somehow, Damian ended up with a lap full of baby ducklings and a content mother sitting on his knee. Steph didn’t know how, only knew that Damian was pretty much an animal whisperer. 

“Brown, give me the rest of your feed.” He demanded.

Steph snorted. “Gonna say please, boy blunder?” She teased.

He pouted. “Please.” He held his hand out.

Steph laughed and handed him her bag.

Damian hand-fed each of the baby ducks as well as their mother, petting their heads gently with the index finger of his opposite hand.

“They’re so little.” Steph marveled.

Damian nodded. “They will grow swiftly. These look like they are about five weeks old.”

Steph didn’t know how he could tell but decided to take his word for it. “Soo, how much longer til they’re outta the nest then?”

He shrugged. “With ducks that are this domesticated yet still wild, it’s hard to say. They will begin laying eggs at about eighteen weeks. Most fowl who are laying their own eggs prefer their own nest.” 

“Wow, that fast? That’s kinda crazy.”

He nodded. The ducklings, realizing there was no more food, began to clamber off his lap.

“Well, what else do you wanna do today?” She grinned. “What’d’ya wanna do today, Ferb?” She chirped.

Damian narrowed his eyes at her as he helped the last of the ducklings off his lap. “You know my name is Damian.” He said carefully.

Steph snorted. “Oh my  _ god _ kid, we have  _ got _ to get you on cable TV soon. Phineas and Ferb, you’ll love it.” She paused and considered the idea of letting Damian watch a show with a plotline of two tweenage boys causing chaos and mayhem by getting into hairbrained schemes. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. She glanced at Damian. He was staring intently at the ducks. Or maybe he would be too enamoured of Perry the Platypus to give the main plotline much thought. “You’ll love it.” She repeated. “But the question stands: what do you want to do? We got all afternoon til we gotta meet Dick for dinner.”

Damian finally looked away from the ducks. “Can we go to the bookstore?” He asked.

“Of course! There’s a cool secondhand one just down this way, c’mon!” She snagged his sleeve and tugged him along.

He trotted a few steps to get even with her. He hooked his arm through hers.

She glanced down, surprised.

Damian was pointedly not looking at her. “And maybe we can get ice cream afterwards.” He said. It was almost a mumble.

She beamed. “Hell yeah little man, now you’re speaking my language!” 


End file.
